Heathrow On-Track to Top 81 Million Passengers as the Airport Pushes for Sustainable Fuels Take Off

Heathrow welcomed 7.75 million passengers in July, helping to maintain steady growth similar to 2018 numbers. New flights to Newquay, Isle of Man and Guernsey announced this summer continue to boost domestic passenger numbers, up 3.6 percent this month. Africa saw the highest long-haul passenger growth, up 5.2 percent. Over 130,000 metric tonnes of cargo, including vital pharmaceuticals, technical equipment and Scottish salmon, passed through Heathrow in July. The airport has called on UN’s aviation body ICAO to set targets for the use of sustainable fuels in aviation and the government to invest some of the nearly £4 billion annual revenue raised from Air Passenger Duty to scale-up its production. Heathrow launched a new bus and RailAir service from Guildford to Heathrow, adding to the range of public transport options available to passengers and colleagues to get to Heathrow by sustainable means. The airport collaborated with Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to unveil a unique, hand-made 12 metre squared Botanical Tapestry, depicting global flora in intricate and colourful detail. The piece celebrates £25,000 raised for Kew’s work on conserving the world’s plant life and is currently on display in T2 departures.

Heathrow Chief Executive John Holland-Kaye said, “The masterplan for the UK’s newest runway is set to be finalised within 18 months’ time and it was great to see businesses up and down UK recently write to the new Prime Minister highlighting their support for this vital project and the need to get on and deliver it. We are clear that expansion at Heathrow will not come at a cost to the environment, which is why we are working with the industry and government to develop environmental targets that will ensure growth is managed sustainably both now and with expansion.”